Read the sample student essays on "Soft Skills", "Determining Fairness in Competitive Sports Concerning Transgender Athletes" and "Youth Suicide: Uncovering the Truth. Evaluate each essay and discuss/explain the strengths and weaknesses of each. Offer suggestions for how each essay could be improved.

Minimum Requirements:

• The minimum word count is 200 words.
• Refer to the texts specifically in your responses.
• Comment on at other student's response.

Sample Student Analytical Essay (1) "Soft Skills at Work"

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Soft Skills in Leadership Positions

Analytical Essay

Have you ever had a bad boss that no matter how hard you tried, it seemed like it was impossible to please him? This could be due to a lack of communication. People in leadership positions inherently have a responsibility to communicate well with their followers. Technical knowledge is a necessity, but it is rendered useless without the ability to transfer that knowledge to others and apply it in real world scenarios. The skills needed to do this are known as soft skills, and they have been widely researched by businesses and professionals in order to understand how to make their employees more efficient. In fact, soft skills are the medium that strong leaders utilize in order to transfer knowledge and ideas effectively to employees and others who follow them.

The effective transfer of knowledge and ideas is a key component for all employees, regardless of their position. In many cases, those in leadership roles were once in entry level positions and worked their way up through use of soft skills. In one article written by Matthew Elbeck, “Marketing Education Review”, focusing on the interview process of marketing employees, the author discusses the differences between soft and hard skills, and how each of them are useful. While this article mostly highlights the importance for these skills in entry-level positions, Elbeck goes on to referrence the findings of Lomas and Klaus, “Soft skills are increasingly important over time as one ascends the career ladder given that hard skills are easily outsourced (Loman, 2011). Klaus (2010) finds that 75% of long term job success depends on people skills, while only 25% depends on technical knowledge.” (Elbleck, 161) This claim highlights the importance of applying soft skills and hard skills in combination to effectively transfer ideas.

In today’s world, companies are using automated machines, that are incapable of using soft skills, as a means to become more efficient and save money compared to paying employees. The article “Together, Apart” by Alex Moore, focuses specifically on executive level management and the necessity of soft skills in those positions. Morre supports his claim that soft skills can never be automated in saying, “Robots can’t lead organizations. They can’t bake empathy into products or enable collaboration between groups of diverse backgrounds. Only people can do that.” (Moore, 12) To elaborate, robots are incapable of completing tasks that require a connection with other people, thus securing the need for human employees that possess soft skills. The article claims that the only way for people to stay ahead in this push for automation, is to sharpen soft skills that cannot be imitated by robots. This claim is based mainly on the idea that soft, or people skills, are limited strictly to people. Subsequently, robots are incapable of fully transferring knowledge to humans.

Interestingly, not all business graduates learn the importance of soft skills though. A trend has been recognized in the business sector between the skills of Eastern and Western business graduates entering the workforce. It has long been argued that Eastern graduates acquire vast technical skills yet lack the soft skills necessary to apply them, and the opposite for Western educated graduates. Recently however, these stereotypes have become invalid. Dr. Govind Hariharan, a business professor at the University of Arkansas, discusses this phenomenon in the article “East vs. West”, where he claims that, “employers in China and India often complain that recent graduates lack technical training, while U.S. employers are unimpressed by the communication skills of their new hires”(Govind 45). This completely contradicts the trend that has been discussed for decades. Hariharan explains the need for Eastern and Western business schools to work together to produce graduates with all skills necessary to be successful in their field. With American and Asian industries making up a huge percentage of all international commerce, it is almost guaranteed that companies will need to work together in order to maximize their economic output. Because of this, it is essential for graduates to fully understand how to communicate amongst each other. Proper communication is essential to effectively transfer ideas between business professionals.

However, this lack of soft skills may be a result of earlier education as well. In a survey done by NWEA-Gallup (2018), published in Education Week, researchers polled parents and educators about the importance of soft skills being taught and tested in public education. The study showed that only 66% of parents placed a high priority of their children being taught the ability to use what they have learned in real world situations. While 86% of principals placed a priority on critical-thinking skills, only 50% of teachers ranked their students’ ability to work and collaborate with others as ‘Very Important’. This lack of priority placed on many crucial soft skills in earlier education could be the cause of lower performing, western educated business graduates. Without a foundation of soft skills produced from earlier education, it is unlikely that students will have the ability to communication their knowledge to others.

The need for soft skills is not limited to executive management, though. For example, a company in the radiation industry ran an experiment in which their employees were taught how to properly use soft skills through a variety of exercises. These exercises challenged employees to properly ask questions and established better communication between their peers. Ronald Freedman wrote an article on this experiment, “Training for an Industry in Flux” and explained the importance of soft skills in saying, “Once consumed with honing their clinical expertise, radiologists in particular must now acquire business acumen and management savvy to become effective decision makers and leaders in their field.” In result, the company reported an increase in efficiency and a more positive overall attitude in the workplace. This increase in productivity highlights the effectiveness of employees properly communicating with one another as it allows employees to fully understand what is expected of them. When ideas and knowledge are transferred from leadership to their employees, it allows for a more positive and efficient workplace.

Going back to that boss that could never be pleased, it is likely that he did not have a grasp on how to use soft skills, thus creating the disconnection to his employees. Without full understanding and implementation of soft skills, leaders are unable to be fully in transferring knowledge and ideas to their followers. As technical skills become more and more common, whether it be through education or automation, soft skills are becoming increasingly necessary for individuals to separate themselves. However, there is a lack of soft skills that can largely be a result of poor collaboration between eastern and western business schools, as well as the lack of priority placed on them in earlier education. While soft skills are most notably significant in leadership positions, they undoubtedly improve effectiveness in all positions throughout the workforce. Ultimately, soft skills are essential to the communication between all employees as it is the cornerstone of the effective transfer of knowledge and ideas.

Sample Student Analytical Essay (2) "Determining Fairness in Competitive Sports Concerning Transgender Athletes"

To-Do Date: Feb 23 at 8:45am

Determining Fairness in Competitive Sports Concerning Transgender Athletes

William Bruce Jenner was a competitive track & field athlete and was highly successful in their career, even winning the gold medal for the decathlon at the 1976 Olympic Games. However, Jenner was not really “Bruce.” She was actually Caitlyn Jenner; a Male-To-Female transgender, who had been closeted for 65 years until finally, in 2015, was able to publicly come out about her gender dysphoria. The idea of being transgender has always been a topic of discussion but having an Olympic gold medalist come out as transgender has really magnified the fact that it needs to be discussed more. Especially when you consider what might have happened had Jenner come out during her athletic career. How differently would events have played out had Jenner come out before the 1976 Olympics? Would Jenner have been given an opportunity to join the women’s athletics or would she have been forced to stay with the men? A common agreed upon solution to this ethical dilemma has not yet been achieved. As time moves on, more and more sports competitions have been accepting transgenders to compete in their desired gender category, believing that it is their right. However, many still choose to reject transgenders and their involvement in sports because they believe it is unfair to the other athletes; some even tolerate discrimination towards them. As of today, transgenders have more difficulties participating in competitive sports because sports policies regarding transgenders are difficult to make fair for everyone.

What some sports competitions consider to be fair is to let all athletes participate in the gender classification that they identify with. Kayla L. Acklin wrote the article “’Hurdling’ Gender Identity Discrimination: The Implications of State Participation Policies on Transgender Youth Athletes’ Ability to Thrive.” and published it in the Boston College Journal of Law & Social Justice, in April of 2017. In this article, Acklin explains why some believe sports should be separated by gender identity by stating, “Sports provide more than just physical, mental, and social benefits to transgender students; sports also provide a way for transgender students to feel like they belong in their communities. Transgender youth often use sports as a way to express their gender identity, which allows them to cope, and, in many circumstances, ignore any harassment and hostility faced in other aspects of their lives.” (Acklin 129-130). Acklin is demonstrating that she believes that maintaining the mental and social state of transgenders in a healthy way can be made easier by letting them be able to fully express themselves through sports. She also believes it is important to allow transgenders to participate in the sports classification that matches their identity so that they can receive the inclusion and acceptance that they may not be able to receive from anywhere else. Because of this, many believe sports should be separated by gender expression so that all transgender athletes can feel comfortable and supported by being allowed to play with whom they identify with. However, not everyone agrees with this idea.

Other sports competitions believe that what is fair is to make all athletes compete in the gender classification that matches the sex they were born as. The author Patrick S. Shin gives reasons for this in his article “Sex and Gender Segregation in Competitive sport: Internal and External Normative Perspectives.” which was published in Law & Contemporary Problems, in October of 2017. Shin explains that, “The purpose of dividing competitions into separate men’s and women’s events is to minimize the role of insuperable physical disparities in determining outcomes. That purpose is served by classifications tied to biology or physiology. There would be little point in using classifications based on gender or gender identity because insofar as such classifications are delinked from biological sex, they would only operate to reintroduce the problematic disparities that having separate men’s and women’s competitions is supposed to eliminate.”(Shin 57). Shin is stating that the reason some competitions do not allow transgenders to participate in their desired class is because sports is separated by biology, because that is what matters in sports, and not by gender expression because this would only create the problems we are trying to solve in the beginning. The problems he is referring to are that people born with a male body have a biological advantage over people born with a female body. For this reason, many believe that it is fair to segregate sports by born-sex, rather than gender expression, because sports rely on more physical attributes, such as the body you are born with, rather than mental or emotional attributes, like identity or expression.

Because of these inconsistencies in sports policies, it has created many challenges for transgenders who want to participate in athletics. Kayla Acklin also stated in her article that, “Currently, no federal law governs transgender participation in youth sports. Thus, states are left to determine their own policies and regulations. As a result of this inconsistency, a transgender student’s ability to play youth sports, activities which provide substantial educational and social benefits, is fully determined by where he or she resides.” (Acklin 127). What this means is that because America as a whole cannot agree on the policies for sports concerning transgenders, it has become difficult for transgender students because whether or not they can play sports depends on where they live, which no student really has control of. This can lead to many struggles a transgender student because a transgender student who is rejected for the sports classification they tried out for can find out that if they just lived in the next city over, they would be accepted, and yet they have little or no control over where they live, which can lead to a rather depressing view of school life.

Because of all these factors, transgenders have more difficulties participating in competitive sports because sports policies regarding transgenders are difficult to make fair for everyone. Some sports have decided to segregate by gender expression, believing it is more important to support transgenders and how they live their lives. Others believe it should be segregated by the sex you are born with because athleticism is based on physical attributes and though those attributes may not match your identity, it is still the attributes you have. Because sports competitions disagree, it has led to much inconsistency in the system, and overall has a negative impact on transgender students. In the future, these topics should be discussed more, to hopefully find a balance of fairness for all athletes, and the inclusion of transgenders. Knowing all of this now, I ask you this: If you had the final say on what sports policies should be, concerning transgender athletes and the fairness regarding their competitors, what would you choose to make as the final decision?

Sample Student Analytical Essay (3) "Youth Suicide: Uncovering the Truth"

To-Do Date: Feb 23 at 10:00am

Youth Suicide - Uncovering the Truth

Analytical Essay

In January of 2020, suicide was discovered to be the third leading cause of death for young people ages 10 to 19 around the globe, as revealed in an article written by Dr. Fabienne Ligier and her team of researchers and published in the journal Child & Adolescent Psychiatry & Mental Health. Surprisingly, many of those victims can be found in the United States. Modern America, along with other nations for that matter, is living a contradictory existence of boasting prosperity and having skyrocketing youth suicide rates at the same time. Suicide is a societal concern, in general, is a topic that is frequently met by a flurry of intense opinions, and often even more so when it relates to younger people (children, teenagers, and young adults alike). These opinions are usually divided into two distinct sides, with one side being compassionate and the other being much harsher in approach. Those empathetic towards young victims of suicide understand the reasons and motives behind the act even when still believing that such an act was still not the answer, while many that are unsympathetic view suicide as cowardice. The compassionate are considerate towards the emotional vulnerability of suicidal young people, while the harsher types see this behavior as a shameful weakness. In more extreme cases, certain people that view suicidal young people in a less positive light believe that most of them actually either do it for attention or are faking it and will not follow through with the act at all, going as far as to resort to mockery to "snap them out of it," all of which are condemned by the other side. When considering the harsher opinions and ideas about the topic of youth suicide, is this issue really just simply cowardly actions committed by weak individuals, or actions that are simply not committed at all just for attention's sake? Is this really the truth, or is there more to this issue? In actuality, suicide is far more prevalent and dangerous than previously thought by the public for younger generations such as Generation Z and Millennials, as it has a significant connection to mental illness, both of which have their respective causes and potential solutions.

Suicide has been encountered and interpreted in a variety of ways by different cultures throughout the centuries, while mental illness has a more misunderstood past, a predicament spawned by many nations, regardless of their social, economic, and technological statuses, having failed to see the deadly association between the two time and time again in the past, as well as in the present age. Despite their missteps, however, developed countries such as those in the West have slowly come around to the reality of the issue, even if their situation is still not entirely perfect. Alternatively, non-developed and developing nations still continuously misinterpret the problem most of the time, impeding heavily on their own road to progress and improvement to this day, and as a result, leading to serious consequences. One specific report covering this is the article, "Prevalence, Distribution, and Associated Factors of Suicide Attempts in Young Adolescents: School-Based Data from 40 Low-Income and Middle-Income Countries" written by professional researcher Xiang Liu and their team and published in the scientific journal PLoS ONE, in which it extensively documents youth suicide rates for forty countries of differing lower and middle-class statuses (Liu, et al. 1-12). Midway through their research, Liu and their team reveal that, "...prevalence of suicide attempts was highest in the Western Pacific region (28.6%) and lowest in the Asian region (8.9%)," which is then made more specific by them explaining that, "...the highest prevalence rates were Western Pacific countries, i.e., Samoa (61.2%), Solomon (33.6%) and Kiribati (31.5%)" out of all the nations and regions that they reviewed in total (Liu, et al. 6-7). When it comes to developing nationss or nations that have not undergone any development at all for that matter, islands that are far away from regions experiencing industrial advancements appear to be at the top of the list of areas that have the highest youth suicide rates, as they are still enduring an existence that is disconnected from advanced technology and proper medicine, the latter of which most likely has not evolved past whichever traditions that the natives practice. But they are not alone in this issue. Liu and their team go on to discuss in their report how, "The prevalence of suicide attempts in the African region was also considerable (20.6%), particularly for Benin (28.2%), Ghana (26.4%), and Namibia (25.6%)..." (Liu, et al. 7); they also discuss how, "Across 17 European countries, the lifetime prevalence of suicide attempts among students aged 15–16 years varied from 4.1% to 23.5%" (Liu, et al. 2). Though while non-developed and developing nations have it bad, developed nations are not completely free from the issue either (as the brief mention of their missteps and imperfection not too long ago indicated). A developed country from Europe or East Asia may not top the list of youth suicide like a developing country from Africa or a remote island would, but it does not necessarily mean that their respective youth populations have it easy at all times because of their perceived "advanced" status. When touching upon possible causes for youth suicide rates, Liu and the other authors explicitly state that one of the, "...determinants of adolescent suicide attempts as the established risk factors..." was identified as, "...mental problems..." (Liu, et al. 8-9). Overall, both non-developed and developing nations that have a very long track record of not properly dealing with mental illness happen to also be the leading regions for the worst suicide rates globally. As mentioned previously, these areas have limited access to medicine, treatments, and the education that is needed to better understand the issue of mental illness and how it acts as a cause for suicide. These areas also struggle greatly with poverty (which in itself is another issue that is connected to a lack of proper education), and one does not need an expert to know that an impoverished environment can damage a person's life and well-being. But it must be stressed once more that non-developed and developing nations are not the only ones touched by youth suicide and its accompanying issue of mental health decline, as they are sometimes found in places where they are least expected to be seen including technologically advanced developed nations. One thing to remember is that suicide is not a fake game done simply for attention, as many young people have actually followed through with it all over the world regardless of who they are and where they come from.

To investigate the topic of developed nations struggling with youth suicide, if one looks through a more narrowed and specific lens, the United States in particular, a country touted as more prosperous than most, currently has a prevalent linked mental illness and suicide trend for its population of younger generations. This is shown by the article published in the AJN American Journal of Nursing and written by Joan Zolot (PA) titled, "Depression Diagnoses Surge Nationwide: Adolescents and Millennials Show the Highest Rates of Increase," which reveals that recent years for the nation have witnessed a spike in mental illness rates for both Millennials and adolescents (Zolot 18). Zolot begins her brief report by stating that, "More than 9 million commercially insured Americans have major depression, representing 4.4% of the population," a statistic she dives deeper into by specifying that, "Women are more often affected than men, with 6% of women and 3% of men [being] diagnosed with depression" despite both of their diagnosis rates having, "...increased 33% from 2013 to 2016" (Zolot 18). Women on average seem to struggle just a bit more with mental illness (specifically severe depression) than men despite both having the same diagnosis rates. Therefore, more attention from professionals could be directed towards the percentage of mentally ill individuals that are female, as well as stir them to research the reasons as to why exactly more women than men suffer from this issue despite diagnosis rates being equally distributed to both genders. In addition to these statistics, Zolot reports that, "The rise in depression diagnoses was highest in adolescents (ages 12 to 17) and millennials (ages 18 to 34): diagnosis rates increased 63% among adolescents and 47% among millennials over the three years," and that comparatively, "For those ages 35 to 49 and 50 to 64, increases were 26% and 23%, respectively" (Zolot 18). It is confirmed that younger generations have a bigger mental health crisis compared to their parents and grandparents, and it raises concerns on what exactly is causing mental health problems to be more rampant the younger an individual is. Moreover, with mental illness on its own being a serious problem in the U.S., another article published in the Indian Journal of Psychiatry and written by Dr. Aksha M. Memon and her research team titled, "The role of online social networking on deliberate self-harm and suicidality in adolescents: A systematized review of literature" focuses more on the topic of youth suicide and actually investigates a potential cause for high mental illness rates, as well as for suicide rates, in the form of social media (Memon, et al. 384-392). In their report, Memon and her team state how, "In the past 10 years, social media use by minors has risen significantly due to an increase in smartphone usage with 24% of adolescents reporting being 'continuously connected' to the Internet and half of the adolescents reporting being 'addicted' to their phone" (Memon, et al. 384). They further expand on this by claiming that, "Nearly 81% of American teenagers use online social media...," all of which is stated after they give a brief statement on how social media usage, "...has been linked to depression and suicidality" (Memon, et al. 384). Social media usage in general is an accessible method to expose young people to the many dangers of society in just a click of a mouse button or a tap of a phone screen. Because of websites like Facebook, Twitter, and Snapchat, which all allow young people to not only communicate with their friends but also with complete strangers, their vulnerability can make them more susceptible to the Internet's more toxic material that can negatively affect their mental well-being, which inevitably leads to depression and other potential disorders. Any kind of harmful content found through social media, whether it is in video form or written format, can cause impressionable young people who are easily influenced to commit acts that can put them at serious risk of physical harm, whether it be dangerous "challenges" (like pranks) to prove their worth to others, self-harm (otherwise known as "cutting"), or suicide. In the end, suicide is not done for attention's sake, with it being more of an act that is many times done out of peer pressure, cyberbullying, and other negative trends from the world of social platforms and websites on the Internet.

With the prevalence of social media in mind, one wonders what other causes could be behind youth suicide and their associated mental health issues, and as it turns out, other various and specific factors also seem to be at fault. To revisit the article penned by Liu and their team, they state that some of the, "...determinants of adolescent suicide attempts...." are "...socioeconomic status, bullying, mental problems, substance use, and weak family and social relationships," in which they then add that, "...suicidal behaviors may cluster within schools as a result of interpersonal interactions with peers who are suicidal" (Liu, et al. 8-9). Schools are a common place for young people to display suicidal tendencies, as a school environment can in of itself be a prolific breeding ground for such an issue to start and grow. An article that discusses this that was published in the Child & Adolescent Psychiatry & Mental Health journal and written by Dr. Fabienne Ligier and her team of researchers titled, "Are School Difficulties an Early Sign for Mental Disorder Diagnosis and Suicide Prevention? A Comparative Study of Individuals Who Died by Suicide and Control Group" explores the presence of a disrupted school life in the history of individuals who have committed suicide, as well as in those that have not committed the act, yet still, exhibit suicidal thoughts and urges (Ligier, et al. 1-9). Ligier and her team state from the beginning that, "...mental disorders are often associated in the etiology of suicidal behavior" (Ligier, et al. 1). The claim that suicide and mental illness are connected and inseparable is reinforced and strengthened before the face of doubt in the raging debate of youth suicide. Along with that information, Ligier and her team explain that mental illnesses that develop in young people in school tend to be overlooked by both parental figures and school staff, and that this causes a, "Link between academic failure and suicide...," further explaining that, "When children or adolescents fail at school..." "....their entire identity during the development process may be affected by a lowered sense of self-esteem; it may also impair their capacity to seek help, increase their vulnerability to anxiety, and may have long-term consequences" (Ligier, et al, 5). Academic failure, in general, is a significant cause behind suicide rates in both young victims that are still in school, as well as in those who are no longer in school due to dropping out and are in their early adult stages of life. Proper education is a necessary component in life to ensure that children grow up with the knowledge needed to succeed. Without that security, a poor learning environment can lead to failure in school, which can lead to poor living conditions due to formal education being a requirement to hold a job in numerous parts of the world, which in turn leads to a mental health decline and suicide in extreme, yet frequent, cases. It is a warning to parents and schools to pay closer attention to children and ensure that they have the guidance that they need for their troubles. The truth is that academic failure is quite common, and also raises serious concerns with how the world's educational systems are treating its youth, and possibly might shine a brighter and more noticeable light on the very real problems young people face on a daily basis under scrutinizing doubt and dismissal.

In regards to the overarching dilemma of youth suicide and its accompanying mental health problems, possible solutions have been discovered. For mental illness, Professor Simon Rice and his research team conducted a study in their article, "Moderated Online Social Therapy for Depression Relapse Prevention in Young People: Pilot Study of a ‘next Generation’ Online Intervention," which was published in the journal Early Intervention in Psychiatry, that demonstrates how widespread online therapy is a possible, convenient, and mostly successful way to treat youth mental illness (Rice, et al. 613-625). Their confidence in this idea increased after holding an experiment that placed 42 young test subjects in a controlled environment with access to online assistance, as they reported that, "A total of 32 (84%) participants rated the intervention as helpful" (Rice, et al. 613); they also added onto that saying, "There was a significant improvement to interviewer-rated depression scores...," and that, "The Rebound intervention was shown to be acceptable, feasible, highly usable and safe in young people with major depression" (Rice, et al. 613). In a day and age where technology is expanding, changing, and evolving, online therapy is a modern and fashionable idea to younger minds, considering how more dependent younger generations are on technology as a whole (with it not being limited to computers, phones, and the Internet) compared to the older generations that came before them. If therapists across the world can take full advantage of this opportunity to improve their methods on reaching out to young people whenever they need help, more innovative breakthroughs in the fields of mental health research and aid could be made sooner rather than later. As for youth suicide itself, the article written by Professor Daphne J. Korczak and her research team titled "A Suicide Prevention Strategy for Youth Presenting to the Emergency Department with Suicide Related Behaviour: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial" and published in the BMC Psychiatry journal discusses a practical solution of prevention in the form of improved in-person therapy (Korczak, et al. 1-9). In their article, while they have not gone through with it just yet (but intend to soon), they describe the idea of improved interactive therapy for in-person consultation, stating how they will, "...recruit 128 participants..." for a future experiment meant, "...to evaluate the effectiveness of a manualized youth- and family- based suicide prevention strategy..." "...among adolescents aged 12 to 18 years of age who present to the ED with acute suicidal ideation (SI) or suicide risk behaviours (SRB)" (Korczak, et al. 1). Improved in-person therapy across the world for young people struggling with mental illness-induced suicidal thoughts is a realistic idea along with online intervention, as young people are not only growing up around technology, but they also may need this type of physical guidance for their crucial years that involve hormonal changes, brain maturation, and social skills development. Also, widespread virtual assistance and direct in-person help being implemented across the globe is not nonviable considering how advanced a good portion of the world has become in so few years. As stated not too long ago, all of this may be in the very near future if more studies are carried out and prove to be promising in the eyes of both researchers and health professionals alike. Going by how effectively fast the world's technology is evolving, all of these solutions could eventually provide hope to the young people that desperately need it as they struggle to have their voices heard.

In the end, youth suicide is a far-reaching problem around the world and has had a detrimental effect due to its connections to mental illness, but despite its causes being commonplace, there is hope to be found in the form of future solutions of improved therapy both online and in-person. Suicide as an issue for young people has largely gone ignored and been dismissed by many, and as a consequence, has lead to rising death rates globally, a dilemma that will continue to grow unless change is made. It should be noted that youth suicide rates are usually the highest in poorer nations that are either non-developed or developing, though that does not hide the fact that they also show up frequently in developed nations that are outwardly wealthier and at an economic advantage. Overall, reducing these rates will be a challenge in the future for researchers and health professionals. However, positive change may be in the horizon through possible improved in-person therapeutic intervention programs that can be implemented anywhere in the world. In retrospect, though, professionals will most likely have to put in more hard work for the disadvantaged regions due to their lack of proper education and technological stability, as well as their insufficient medicinal efforts. Additionally, the accompanying mental illnesses and their own causes that fuel the suicide rates have grown considerably alongside them. But like the in-person therapy, online assistance is also a potential solution to that, and may help in regards to aiding young people in a faster and more convenient way that appeals to their reliance on growing technology. As society is told to believe in the youth and their actions for a better world, it too can take action to make the youth believe in it.

Students response (named is Aria)

The sample student essay, "Soft Skills in Leadership Positions" introduces the idea of soft skills to it's audience and emphasizes their importance in workplace settings. The essay has a good introduction, with a rhetorical question that's relatable to a wide range of people for it's opening sentence, and a narrowed thesis statement that sets the audience up for what the paper is going to be about. Over the course of five body paragraphs the essay effectively proves the need for soft skills both with those in leadership roles and lower level employees in general. The student also covers a lot of different ways in which soft skills are lacking in workplaces everywhere, discussing issues from increased introduction of automated machines incapable of soft skills, to soft skills not being emphasized on in business schools or even earlier education before college. The student has a lot of good examples and includes a lot of quotes and evidence from scholarly journals that backs up their information. However a lot of their quotes have some errors, with missing ellipses where some quotes have started mid-sentence, unnecessary commas in their parenthetical citation, and missing periods after the parenthetical citation. The essays works cited page also has some random capitalized or highlighted words, missing periods at the end, and they forgot to take the DOI out of one of their cited pages.

In the sample analytical essay "Determining Fairness in Competitive Sports Concerning Transgender Athletes" the student highlights how trans people have more difficulties competing in competitive sports than others. The introduction paragraph takes an anecdotal approach, talking about Olympic gold medalist Caitlyn Jenner, who was a closeted trans woman throughout her entire Olympic career and only came out years later. The paragraph causes it's audience to think about what would have happened if she had come out as trans during her career and leads nicely into the rest of the paper. The essay talks about how some sports competitions let athletes compete under the gender they identify as, and others only let athletes compete under the sex they were assigned at birth. Looking at both types of sports competitions like this offers good view of both sides of the issue and a better understanding of why each sport would lean to a different side. Overall the essay had solid examples and quoted it's sources accurately. Though it only cited two sources and might have benefited from having a couple more articles to back it up.

The sample student essay "Youth Suicide: Uncovering the truth" looks at the rates of suicide in young adults and it's connection to mental health. The student starts out their article with a shocking statistic backed up by one of their sources and expands on it, effectively leading into their thesis statement. The essay continues to explore the connection between mental illness and suicide, looks at what the suicide rates are both in developed and developing countries, and how school effects suicide rates and mental health overall. Throughout the essay the student excellently references their sources and provides good examples for their points. The only thing they could have improved on is that their topic sentences were a little hard to follow and didn't easily explain what exactly the paragraph was going to be focusing on.